Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to rise in the Senate today to speak in favour of adoption of the Official Development Assistance Multilateral Replenishment Obligations (Special Appropriation) Bill 2019. In reference to my friend Senator Molan's comments about 'Sky after dark', as a relatively new senator, I would say if, I could get on 'Sky after dark', 'Sky at noon' or 'Sky at pre-dawn', I would greatly appreciate it—or the ABC or anywhere else for that matter, Senator. I'm happy to give interviews to The Guardian as well.

I rise to speak in favour of this bill as someone who does believe in our commitment to multilateral organisations, to bilateral relationships and also to an international rules based order. I'm also someone who believes that our foreign affairs policies and initiatives should be based on our national interest, our Australian values and matters which rightly belong within our own self-determination being respected. I think that's the view of many Australians with respect to these matters. I don't think it helps matters when, as we heard from Senator Wong and from Senator Faruqi, scorn is poured on those who raise legitimate questions with respect to Australia's place in the international order, because, when those questions are raised, they are simply a reflection of what people are thinking in our community. It is so important in these areas that we bring the Australian community with us. We need to bring the Australian community with us to support our place in terms of multilateral foreign relationships.

I'm very pleased to speak in favour of this bill. The content of the bill has been described in depth by previous speakers, but what I want to do in this contribution to the debate is highlight in practice what a difference this makes to people's lives. I want to refer to a number of projects. A country I spent over two years living and working in is Papua New Guinea. There's a project in PNG called the Urban Youth Employment Project, which is run through the World Bank and the International Development Association. That project has provided work to 18½ thousand unemployed, young urban people in Port Moresby. For those of us who have lived and worked in Papua New Guinea, a daily occurrence was to see the number of young people who migrated to the city, to urban centres, from rural areas and could not find employment. So this is an absolutely crucial program. Forty-one per cent of participants have been young women, and 18,000 new bank accounts were established through this project. These were young people who didn't even have a bank account. That's what this project meant to them and to their lives. Between 2011 and 2018, the Australian government provided a total of $10.8 million for the Urban Youth Employment Project in Papua New Guinea—a practical example of what Australia's contribution to these multilateral agencies means in practice for people on the ground.

Let me give you another example: the Solomon Islands Rural Development Program. The objective of the Solomon Islands Rural Development Program is to raise the living standards of rural households by establishing improved mechanisms for the delivery of priority economic and social infrastructure and services by the public and the private sector. The project consisted of three components, the first being the delivery of local infrastructure and services. The specific objective of that component was to increase access to and use of infrastructure and services in rural areas through participatory planning, budgeting and execution mechanisms at community and provincial levels. The second component involved improving access to agricultural services, in particular to improve access of smallholder households to quality agricultural services to support rural economic growth. The final component of that project, the Solomon Islands Rural Development Program, was to facilitate rural enterprise development through provision of an equity financing facility and associated training and technical assistance. Microfinancing is an imperative and incredibly useful tool to empower people in some of these impoverished nations.

Let me give you another example: Vaccinating in Vanuatu for a Healthier Future, through the work of the Asian Development Bank. Under that project three new quality assured vaccines were introduced to the health systems of Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. They will eventually shield more than 500,000 young women and children in those specific countries from a range of viruses. It's an outstanding project. This one is through the Asian Development Bank.

Tuvalu's Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Health, in relation to that project, said:

Our countries' women will benefit and so of course will their children. And they are our future.

Absolutely.

Another project, through the Asian Development Bank, is the provision of relief for Vanuatu after Cyclone Harold. Cyclone Harold, as those in this chamber will know, destroyed essential water and power infrastructure and severely damaged roads, schools, health facilities, homes, livestock and garden crops. The grant assistance provided in that case through the Asian Development Bank will help restore essential services, assist clean-up efforts and provide humanitarian supplies to those most vulnerable.

Those are each practical, worthwhile projects which are being delivered through these multilateral structures which Australia continues to support and should continue to support which make a difference to people's lives in our region. When we talk about Australia's commitment to helping our neighbours, both near and far, I think it's incredibly important that we actually refer to the concrete examples of what the money means for people on the ground.

I'd like to make some comments in relation to the contribution from Senator Faruqi. She referred to comments from Minister Hawke in relation to the Black Lives Matter protests held over the weekend. I thought Senator Faruqi's contribution in that regard was quite gratuitous and uncalled for. The fact of the matter is that Minister Hawke simply gave voice to what the vast majority of Australians believe—that's all. That's what his comments represented. He gave voice to the beliefs of the vast majority of Australians who have been under COVID-19 restrictions and have complied with those restrictions over months to their personal and economic detriment. That has been to such an extent that when the mother of a small-business owner in my area passed away, because there were more than 10 family members, one of his brothers had to sit in the car park of the church whilst his mother's funeral service took place. So Australians are understandably upset when they see thousands of people just disregard the laws of the land to pursue a protest. Australians have a right to exercise freedom of speech, absolutely. But they are disgusted when they see people cross the boundaries and breach the laws which they've been complying with in a responsible manner to their own personal detriment. Minister Hawke was simply giving voice to that mainstream view in the Australian community. It's certainly the view I've heard from dozens and dozens of constituents.

Senator Faruqi would have been more kind if, instead of referring to Minister Hawke's comments with respect to the protests over the weekend, she had referred to the great initiatives undertaken by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Payne, and also by the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Alex Hawke MP, in relation to tackling the challenge of COVID-19 in the Pacific. There are a number of great contributions which our Australian government have made in helping our Pacific family in the Pacific deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

I just want to run through a few of those contributions. I think it's important because this is an example of Australia doing its bit to support the members of our Pacific family. Australia has been integral in maintaining an essential services and humanitarian corridor to the Pacific and Timor-Leste, recognising that we are an important transport hub for the Pacific and Timor-Leste. This allows the movement of a limited number of international exports of essential supplies and food to our Pacific neighbours. We're working in partnership with Pacific island countries, including Timor-Leste, New Zealand and regional organisations on that initiative.

We've also assisted those Pacific islanders or members of our Pacific family who have been in Australia through the Pacific Labour Scheme and the Seasonal Worker Program. That included extending their visas for up to 12 months so they could stay and work in Australia. That has been incredibly important not just to those individuals from those Pacific countries but also to our agricultural producers.

But Senator Faruqi didn't mention that. She also didn't mention the fact that Australia has been integral in assisting Pacific islanders to return home. Australia is committed to making sure our Pacific island friends and Timorese nationals can get home and are still able to transit through Australia en route to Pacific destinations and to Timor-Leste. Australia is now implementing screening measures at Australian airports for both transit and outbound flights to the Pacific and Timor-Leste.

Our Pacific posts are staying open during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. We didn't hear about that from Senator Faruqi at all. She just wanted to mention the comments made over the weekend by Minister Hawke. Our Pacific posts remain open. I pay tribute to each and every one of our local staff at those Pacific posts for the great job they're doing at this time. Our local staff at those posts play a key role in the delivery of Australian development assistance and are the backbone of our aid program personnel.

Lastly, Australia also responded to Tropical Cyclone Harold. We've made contributions to assist our Pacific family—all those members who have been impacted by that tropical cyclone. Unfortunately, we did not hear about any of that from Senator Faruqi.

Again those are practical ways Australia directly, through bilateral relationships and multilateral organisations, contributes and helps our Pacific neighbours and further afield. On that basis, I commend the bill to the chamber.